Text of a Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate

Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), I hereby report that I have issued an Executive Order (the “order”) with respect to Iran that takes additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12957 of March 15, 1995, and implements certain statutory requirements of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-172) (50 U.S.C. 1701 note), as amended (ISA), the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-195) (22 U.S.C. 8501 et seq.), as amended (CISADA), the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (Public Law 112 158) (TRA), and the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2012 (subtitle D of title XII of Public Law 112-239) (22 U.S.C. 8801 et seq.) (IFCA).

In Executive Order 12957 of March 15, 1995, the President found that the actions and policies of the Government of Iran threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. To deal with that threat, the President declared a national emergency and imposed prohibitions on certain transactions with respect to the development of Iranian petroleum resources. To further respond to that threat and to provide implementation authority for Iran-related legislation — including ISA and certain statutory requirements of CISADA, TRA, and IFCA — the President issued Executive Order 12959 of May 6, 1995, Executive Order 13059 of August 19, 1997, Executive Order 13553 of September 28, 2010, Executive Order 13574 of May 23, 2011, Executive Order 13590 of November 20, 2011, Executive Order 13606 of April 22, 2012, Executive Order 13608 of May 1, 2012, Executive Order 13622 of July 30, 2012, Executive Order 13628 of October 9, 2012, and Executive Order 13645 of June 3, 2013.

In order to give effect to the commitments of the United States with respect to sanctions described in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action of July 14, 2015 (JCPOA), the President issued Executive Order 13716 of January 16, 2016, which revoked Executive Orders 13574, 13590, 13622, and 13645, amended Executive Order 13628, and continued implementation authorities for certain provisions of IFCA that were outside the scope of the JCPOA.

On May 8, 2018, in recognition of Iran’s escalating campaign of regional destabilization, the threat that Iran’s malign behavior continues to pose to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, and the JCPOA’s failure to address the totality of the concerns of the United States about Iran’s behavior, I announced my decision to cease the participation of the United States in the JCPOA and to reimpose all sanctions lifted or waived in connection with the JCPOA. Iran remains the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, and provides assistance to Lebanese Hizballah, Hamas, Kata’ib Hizballah, the Taliban, al-Qa’ida, and other terrorist networks. Iran also continues to fuel sectarian tension in Iraq, and support vicious civil wars in Yemen and Syria. It commits grievous human rights abuses, and arbitrarily detains foreigners, including United States citizens, on spurious charges without due process of law.

It is the policy of the United States that Iran be denied all paths to develop or acquire a nuclear weapon; that Iran’s network and campaign of regional aggression be neutralized and constrained; to disrupt, degrade, or deny the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and its surrogates access to the resources that sustain their destabilizing activities; and to impede Iran’s aggressive development of longer-range missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles, and other asymmetric and conventional weapons capabilities. I have determined that these circumstances, in the context of the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12957, necessitate the exercise of my authority under IEEPA.

Sections 1-6 of the order that I have issued reimpose and extend the sanctions that were lifted pursuant to Executive Order 13716, including implementation authorities for IFCA. In addition, these sections continue in effect certain implementation authorities for ISA, CISADA, and TRA previously provided for in Executive Order 13628. The measures in these sections will take effect following a previously announced 90 day or 180-day wind down period, as appropriate.

Section 7 of the order continues in effect authorities contained in sections 2 and 3 of Executive Order 13628 and subsection 3(c) of Executive Order 13716 targeting the diversion of goods intended for the people of Iran, the transfer of goods or technologies to Iran that are likely to be used to commit human rights abuses, and persons who engage in censorship.

Section 8 of the order continues in effect and extends prohibitions contained in section 4 of Executive Order 13628 relating to entities owned or controlled by a United States person and established or maintained outside the United States, which were required by section 218 of the TRA.

Section 9 of the order revokes Executive Orders 13628 and 13716 and clarifies that the provisions of the order supersede those earlier orders.

I have delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the authority to take such actions, including adopting rules and regulations, to employ all powers granted to me by IEEPA and the relevant provisions of ISA, and to employ all powers granted to the United States Government by the relevant provisions of ISA and CISADA, as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of the order.